The use of paper for wrapping packages has long been known. After the paper is wrapped around the package, it is customary to fasten the paper about the package with fastening means, as by string tied around the wrapped package, or by securing the paper in place with tape of the type sold by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minn. under the trademark SCOTCH TAPE.
The conventional manner of wrapping packages with the use of string or tape requires a measure of labor and of skill which is not possessed by everyone. For the unskilled, the attractive wrapping of packages is a task that is frequently relegated to professionals in the gift wrapping department.
Patent Number Re. 26,742 issued Dec. 16, 1969 to Frederick H. Laskow is exemplary of the attempted prior art solutions to the problem of effectively and attractively securing in place paper wrapped about a box or other article. Laskow provides a box and wrapping paper for the box, the wrapping paper comprising panels conforming with the structure of the box and selected panels of the box including a single narrow area of pressure sensitive adhesive covered by a protective strip.
Laskow teaches that the conforming panels of the wrapping paper may be formed about their corresponding parts of the box, after which the protective strips may be removed from the adhesive means and the adhesive used to secure the wrapping paper to the box
The teaching of Laskow simplifies the wrapping of packages but has the disadvantages of requiring the labor and facilities to position the adhesive in spaced locations and to form each sheet of wrapping paper in conformance with the size and shape of a specific box. The need to match the wrapping paper with the size and shape of the box needed to pack the article to be packaged is a disadvantage to the user. These disadvantages are overcome by the present invention.